Cyndi Gave went nearly 30 years without ever needing to cut staff at her North Carolina-based consultancy, which advises businesses on hiring and leadership development.

But in August, she began calling some of her favorite clients, telling them they had the opportunity to hire The Metiss Group’s “superstar” office manager — a 14-year employee and one of three she ultimately laid off.

But the pitch went nowhere. Gave’s clients — mostly businesses with 250 or fewer employees — were also pulling back on spending and hiring. “I was beginning to think it was just us,” she said.

Many small businesses are similarly taking defensive actions as they contend with multiple pressure points, from inflation and a weeks-long government shutdown, to increasingly dour consumer sentiment and rumblings o

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